TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- There was no pre-emptive stumping for the SEC's national championship hopes during Nick Saban's portion of today's teleconference.

The Alabama coach didn't want to delve into the increasingly realistic hypothetical scenario that has the SEC shut out of the BCS national championship game one year since it occupied both spots and seven years since one of its teams didn't win it.

"I
think you have to take the whole body of
work that each team does, relative to the schedule and the strength of
schedule," Saban said. "The system that we have takes those things into consideration
probably some kind of way.

"Two really good teams are going to play in the SEC championship
game. If that elevates their status, then I think they deserve to go to
the game. I
don't really think you can make comparisons."

No. 5 Georgia has already locked up a spot in the title game. No. 4 Alabama can do the same if it beats Auburn on Nov. 24.

A win in the SEC title game, though, might not have any effect on the victorious team's chances of making the BCS national championship if two of the three remaining, eligible unbeaten teams -- No. 1 Kansas State, No. 2 Oregon and No. 3 Notre Dame -- stay that way.

Saban acknowledged Monday that he and the Crimson Tide players are focused on what they can control, and he did that again today.

"I'm not really in the
position to make comparisons, relative to what the other teams have
done," Saban said. "I'm just kind of focused on what our team needs to do to be
successful and try to give themselves the best chance to
put themselves in the position if they can to control the things that
they can control, which is to try to win the games that we have to play
to see what happens."

Other notes from Saban's time on the teleconference...

-- He said there were at least eight plays in Saturday's loss to Texas A&M in which the Crimson Tide defense wasn't lined up properly.

"That's just not good.
It's not good coaching," Saban said. "It's not good for the players to have a chance
to be successful and execute. That's something that we need
to work on more in the offseason and do a better job of."

-- Saban said he'll expose Alabama's defense to even more no-huddle during the offseason, including more sessions against the first-team offense.

"You're not working
against the scout team, who really can't simulate the plays and the
speed and the tempo of the plays," he said. "You try to do it against yourself and
get the players to adapt better."

-- The focus heading into Saturday's game against Western Carolina is improvement.

"We need to not focus on what's
happened in the past and look forward and try to get things corrected
so that we can play better in the future and not worry too much about
who we're playing but remembering how we need to play," Saban said. "That's what we're
trying to focus on.

"We have all the respect
in the world for the team that we're playing. I just think our players
need to focus on what they need to do to play well."